Hopinions: What’s in a name?

Once again, Ale Industries has been the inspiration regarding this edition of Hopinions. The issue at hands stems from the TTB ruling that Ale Industries change the name of the flagship beer from Orange Kush to Orange Shush. While a fine example of making the best of a bad situation, should the TTB be concerned with creating “social responsibility” policy or enforcing it? Also, do you brew with the bong water or not?

From: Peter at BetterBeerBlog

An article on beernews.org talks about how Ale Industries has had to change the name of their flagship beer from Orange Kush to Orange Shush, all thanks to our friends at the TTB.
TTB is an acronym for Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. As pulled from their website, the TTB mission is:

…to collect alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and ammunition excise taxes that are rightfully due; to protect the consumer of alcohol beverages through compliance programs that are based upon education and enforcement of the industry to ensure an effectively regulated marketplace; and to assist industry members to understand and comply with Federal tax, product, and marketing requirements associated with the commodities we regulate.

Effectively, if you wish to sell alcohol, they are the gate keepers you have to go through; their hoops are the ones you must jump through. This is especially significant if you wish to bottle your beer and sell them as the TTB reviews and approves (or rejects) labels.

The original issue at hand was that “Kush” has a negative connotation; specifically, it’s another name for a strain of marijuana. Ale Industries argues that the name Orange Kush was inspired by the Egyptian Kingdom of Kush; where they source one of the beer’s ingredients from, specifically, chamomile. Unconvinced, the TTB still forced Ale Industries to change the beer’s name while accusing them of being socially irresponsible.
This is not the first time breweries have had to change the name of a beer to suit the will of the TTB. A little further up north, Lagunitas was forced to change the name of their copper ale, The Kronik (which is another euphemism for marijuana); in response, they renamed their beer Censored.

If there’s anything I’ve learned about the brewing industry, it’s that overall, brewers have a pretty good sense of humor. Many beer names have a tongue-in-cheek quality about them. Pete’s Support Belgian IPA at Firehouse Brewing company is a nod to both Pete Slosberg (Pete’s Wicked Ale) and the much lauded Pizza Port Brewing Company. With the slogan, “Why have just one?”, Polygamy Porter from Utah-based Wasatch Brewing, pokes fun of the polygamist Mormon stereotype. While I have no doubt that Orange Kush was originally named as a reference to the Kingdom of Kush, there’s no doubting a double entendre exists whose meaning could be argued is more commonly known than the original inspiration.

So the question I pose to you is, is the TTB “correct” in having Ale Industries change their beer’s name? Are they infringing upon Ale Industries’ first amendment rights? Is it even the TTB’s call to be setting “social responsiblity” policy or to enforce it?

Last, but not least, what about the TTB’s lack of consistency with regards to enforcement? James Costa, a commentor on the Beernews.org article I reference earlier, brings up several beer names that have obvious cannabis referencing names that have not received (at least to my knowledge) instructions to change.

What about Lost Cost Indica IPA and 420 Pale Ale from Sweetwater in Atlanta?Old Bongwater Hemp Porter from Kettlehouse? I’m sure there are others. This is selective enforcement does’nt the TTB have better things to do than pick on small business owners?

If much of law is decided by precedence, then what allows these beers to slip through and not Orange Kush?

From: Mario at Brewed For Thought

Having worked with public agencies as a civil engineer for some time now, I refuse to try and figure out why they do what they do. I can see why they dp it, and can laugh when they fail (Legal Weed anyone?)

As for some of the beers that James mentioned having made it through, Bongwater is the easiest to explain because to be honest, it hasn’t made it through. The line lf Bongwater named beers remain draft only. For Ale Industries Orange Kush, the name should stay unchanged for draft offerings.

Personally, my favorite beer containing a thinly veiled reference is Terrapin’s Wake N Bake, currently bottled as a Coffee Oatmeal Stout.

In the end, true fans know the real roots of the beer and TTB rulings only help by giving a beer a bit of a story (and who doesn’t love a beer with a story). In fact, for the Real Ale Night I promote at the Toad in the Hole, we had a smoked beer theme for 4/20. Not having local smoked beer for the cask, Lagunitas got us a double dry-hopped cask of Censored. It wouldn’t be 4/20 without some extra stinky Kronik, right?

There is something interesting on the horizon though. In November, California voters will vote on the issue of legalization. If passed, not only the names, but the ingredients of some craft beers may change. What are your thoughts on the possibility of thesee sativa skunked suds?

From: Peter at BetterBeerBlog

A few years ago, I did a beer review in “honor” of April 20th. For that review, I focused on hop forward beers; the common thread being that hops are a cousin to marijuana. You even commented on using smoked beers and it was good to see that you followed up on that for cask night at Toad in the Hole.

The issue of legalization is an entire matter altogether. While I don’t have a strong bias towards or against legalization, the idea of using marijuana as a brewing ingredient is interesting. I’ve heard anecdotal accounts of homebrewers adding the stuff to their own beers, a double-whammy, but have never attempted it myself. Picturing it in my mind, I see a group of friends sitting around a campfire, all have cotton mouth despite having beers in hand. Funny.

American brewers, homebrewers and professionals alike, have always been an experimental sort. I’m not sure if adding wacky tobacky to a beer, while interesting in concept, would result in a good beer. Depends on how you use it. Are you grinding up the seeds and using them as you would with coriander (Weedy Wit, if the name’s not taken yet, I call dibs!)? Or will you be “dry-hopping” your beers with the leaves? Would adding hemp to the mash help with setting the filter bed? If you really wanna go nuts, smoke your malt with the stuff. Then there’s always using the bong water… eww.

How would you envision using weed in beer? Even if legalization goes through in California, none of these new labels would ever fly through the TTB. Of course, if you’re luckly like Allagash (well, depending on your viewpoint), you could submit your “Hugh Malone” label to the TTB and get back “Huge Mellons” approved.

From: Mario at Brewed For Thought

I wouldn’t claim to be an expert, but if it’s the intoxicating effects of the cannibus you’re looking for, then there are two things you need to do. First, THC is fat soluble, not water soluble, so there needs to be a binding agent. Second, I believe it requires heat for activation.

A friend of mine made an imperial stout flavored with coffee, orange peel and cocoa powder. Using the ingredient in question for 30 minutes seemed appropriate given other techniques of ingesting the herb. The result was a rather wicked brew .

You idea for using hemp seeds similarly to coriander in a Wit is intriguing and more easily executed under current laws than any other use. I believe hemp seeds can be purchased at just about any organic market, health food store, etc. You might not know, but hemp seeds are supposed to be pretty healthy, similar to the benefits of flax seeds. If you do brew this beer, let me know how it comes out.

In the end, it will be interesting to see what happens. In the mean time, I hope brewers continue to mess with the TTB and see what they can sneak through. I mean if Leafer Madness can get approved, anything is possible!

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